Celebrate reunion

Celebrate reunion

canfield

A group of past Celebrate team members from parishes in the Diocese of Youngstown and the Ursuline Sisters of Youngstown’s Young Adult Outreach Committee will host “Celebrating Celebrate” from 3 to 6 p.m. Aug. 12 at the Ursuline Center, 4280 Shields Road.

Check-in will begin at 2:30; the event will conclude with Mass at 5 p.m. in the chapel with the Rev. Joe Ruggeri as celebrant. Participants and their spouses are welcome.

The Celebrate experience, a retreat made by high school juniors and seniors, began in the 1970s at St. Joseph Church in Austintown and spread to parishes across the Valley.

Registration is $5 each and includes light refreshments. Dress is casual, and anyone who still has a Celebrate shirt is invited to wear or bring it.

For information and registration, contact Natalie Wardle, coordinator of youth ministry at St. Charles Borromeo Church, at 330-758-2325 or email to njwardle@att.net or Jocelyn Welsh, coordinator of religious education at St. Joseph Church, at 330-792-1919 or email to JocelynB_9@yahoo.com. Registration forms are available online at www.theursulinecenter.org.

Faith festival

north canton

The Diocese of Youngs-town will host its annual Faith and Family Festival from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. next Saturday at Walsh University’s Hoover Park, 1875 E. Market St.

Featured speakers include Catholic evangelist Jesse Romero, the Rev. Damian Ference and musician Martin Doman. Children’s activities and music for all ages will be available throughout the day.

Bishop George V. Murry will celebrate the closing Mass at 4 p.m.

Register by phone at 330-744-8451 or online at www.faithfamilyfest.org.

Friends, Family Day

warren

Restoration Christian Fellowship, 151 Folsom Drive, will host its annual Friends and Family Day at the 11 a.m. worship service Sunday when Pastor Joseph Walker Jr. will speak.

There will be a picnic at 2 p.m. at Johnson Community Center in Leavittsburg.

Praise and pasta

austintown

Austintown Baptist Church, 1180 S. Raccoon Road, will sponsor a night of pasta and praise on July 21.

A spaghetti dinner will be from 4 to 6 p.m.; the cost is $7. Takeout is available from 4 to 5:30 by calling the church at 330-792-9532.

A praise concert will follow.

Labyrinth walk

villa maria, pa.

Villa Maria Education and Spirituality Center will have a guided labyrinth walk from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. July 25 at Villa Maria Community Center. The theme is “Path of Peace.”

The labyrinth is a tool for enriching the spiritual journey. Labyrinths have been around for more than 4,000 years and are found in every major religious tradition in the world. Sister Therese Pavilonis will offer a brief history and introduction.

No registration is required but is appreciated. Free-will offerings will be accepted. Call 724-964-8886 for more information.

Parish assignment

youngstown

The Rev. Robert Lanterman, ordained May 9 by Bishop George V. Murry at St. Columba Cathedral, has received his first assignment. Bishop Murry has appointed him as associate pastor of St. Joan of Arc Parish in Canton, effective Sunday.

Father Lanterman completed seminary studies at Mount St. Mary Seminary in Cincinnati.

New church

boardman

Boardman Foursquare Church, 1594 W. Western Reserve Road, has been permanently closed by the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel.

Though the congregation had bought the property, under Foursquare laws, it was titled to the International Church. The property is for sale.

The Rev. Larry R. Johnson, pastor, said the congregation has established an independent church with no denominational ties. It is Safe Harbor Church and has 25 members.

The Rev. Johnson said the congregation voted to secede from the Foursquare denomination because it didn’t agree with the liberal trend in doctrine and Biblical teaching that was taking place.

Mr. Johnson has been a minister since 1979. He is a chaplain with Boardman Police Department. Email may be sent to chaplain2006-safeharbor@yahoo.com.

Missionary trip

youngstown

Jessica M.P. Jones, daughter of the Rev. Lorans and Betty Pincham Jones, will travel to West Africa next month on a short-term mission’s trip. They are membes of Third Baptist Church.

She will be with a team of missionaries from across the country in partnership with Ambassadors Fellowship. The team will work with local leaders on building a discipleship training base to train church leaders and building a medical clinic to address the health problems of the poor.

When she returns, Jones will be available to speak to local church missions groups about the trip and mission opportunities. She also will speak on Adopt-A-Village.

For information, send an email to Gr8Cmission@gmail.com.

Final merger

warren

On July 1, Sts. Cyril and Methodius Church and St. James Church merged with the new name, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish. Currently, both worship sites remain open. The mailing address is 185 Laird Avenue NE, Warren, Ohio 44483. The worship site for Sts. Cyril and Methodius Church. St. James Church is at 2532 Burton Street SE, Warren.

This merger is the final one in the Diocese of Youngstown Parish Reconfiguration Plan, which began in 2008 and was promulgated by Bishop George V. Murry in May 2010. Seventeen mergers have taken place. Other parishes remain as single parishes, collaborative units and merged units.

The six-county Diocese of Youngstown now includes 101 churches merged into 87 parishes.

The Rev. Nicholas Shori, director of Parish Plan Implementation, said that year three of the plan will have three phases.

In the first phase, parishes will evaluate the mergers and collaborations to assess how well they have progressed and identify areas of need.

An evaluation tool is being created.

Phase two focuses on discussions on a deanery level.

In phase three, the Office of Parish Plan Implementation will assist parishes in continuing and/or starting concrete evangelizations efforts.

Ten parishes will pilot a Parish Evaluation Program to discuss techniques used to evangelize active parishioners, less-than-active parishioners, individuals that describe themselves as spiritual but not religious, and the unaffiliated and uninterested.